108: Podcasts are a conduit for understanding racism

Podcasts, videos, and links to make you think

View this email in your browser

The ultimate goal of this newsletter is to share content that helps me understand the world better, in hopes that it will do the same for others. I don't know of any better topic that I need to understand better right now than systemic racism and injustice. The Black Lives Matter movement needs allies to be successful, and I know I can't be an ally if I am not always listening and learning how to not be silent myself. Part of "hurting your brain" is the discomfort that comes along with making room for new knowledge and world-views.

So instead of the normal newsletter format where I recommend a varied selection of podcasts and other links, I wanted to point to three lists that are a great starting point for an ongoing education about race and racism.

21 Podcasts That Confront Racism in America [Bello Collective]

8 Podcasts That Help You Talk to Kids About Race [Bello Collective]

This List Of Books, Films And Podcasts About Racism Is A Start, Not A Panacea [NPR]

Podcasts are truly one of the best conduits of a continuous education. Please share what you find helpful.

VAN JONES

Ok, well there is one more thing I want to link to. Many of my recent thoughts on the importance of putting in the work to learn more about racism have been shaped by an interview I watched from Conan O'Brien with Van Jones. It's absolutely worth a watch (or listen), but two parts have really stayed with me.

One is about the burden African Americans face educating white friends and colleagues.

Van Jones: “Why do you pay money to go to college? Why do you pay tuition? Because educating somebody is costly. It’s costly. If I have to sit here and educate every one of my white friends every time something happens. If I have to educate one of my white friends on every Facebook post from a high school buddy, every well-intentioned colleague. It is costly. And they’re not paying me no tuition. It’s just a pure cost. And at a certain point it’s like, ‘Can you do your own homework? Can you just watch The 13th documentary? Can you just read The New Jim Crow?' Just do a little bit so I don’t have to do all of it myself, every day. And usually, I’m surrounded and outnumbered. If you are a professional black person or a middle class black person , frankly we’re only 12% of the country, most of the time we’re surrounded and outnumbered, and you’re going to have to now one more time create a free college for somebody else, that you don’t benefit from, that you are actually drained by. It’s tough.”

And the other is our responsibility to learn from each other.

Van Jones: “Just admit we live in a country with a terrible history. Nobody likes that reality, it’s uncomfortable. But the fact that you can run away from it 364 days out of the year doesn’t mean you should. A part of being in a democratic, multi-racial, multicultural, multi-faith democracy...we have to work to learn about each other."

I look forward to continuing this conversation and sharing what I learned in upcoming newsletters. Stay safe out there and keep hurting your brain.

As always, you can find all the links in one spot in this list from Listory.

That's all for this week!

Connect with me @erikthejones on twitter and if you've learned anything interesting, please forward this link to any curious natured friends or family so they can subscribe. Many thanks!

Erik